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A review by tomleetang
Mr Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo
4.0
Bernardine Evaristo is the queen of compassion. That's why this story of an unhappily married Antiguan couple - egocentric, sexist, grumpy old git Barrington and homophobic, hypocritical harridan Carmel - manages to be both hilarious and moving. Really, I should hate this pair, but their faults are so thoughtfully (and realistically) situated within their complex personalities, formed by the ups and downs of their 50-year marriage, that I also felt affection for them. They're like those embarrassingly out-of-touch (grand)parents who you love, even if you can't identify with their outmoded attitudes towards gender and sexuality.
Oh dear, I seem to be sounding rather like the couple's self-righteous offspring, who are equally useless (and endearing) in their own ways. That, of course, is also part of the beauty of this novel: the way it skewers the 'wokeness' of younger generations while showing them as flawed in their own unique ways. Times change, attitudes change, people change, but what doesn't change is the eternally imperfect - and, looked at in the right light, lovable - nature of the individual.
Oh dear, I seem to be sounding rather like the couple's self-righteous offspring, who are equally useless (and endearing) in their own ways. That, of course, is also part of the beauty of this novel: the way it skewers the 'wokeness' of younger generations while showing them as flawed in their own unique ways. Times change, attitudes change, people change, but what doesn't change is the eternally imperfect - and, looked at in the right light, lovable - nature of the individual.